The Broad Line Radio Galaxy J2114+820

In the frame of the study of a new sample of large angular size radio galaxies selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey, we have made radio observations of J2114+820, a low power radio galaxy with an angular size of 6'. Its radio structure basically consists of a prominent core, a jet directed in north-west direction and two extended S-shaped lobes. We have also observed the optical counterpart of J2114+820, a bright elliptical galaxy with a strong unresolved central component. The optical spectrum shows broad emission lines. This fact, together with its low radio power and FR-I type morphology, renders J2114+820 a non-trivial object from the point of view of the current unification schemes of radio loud active galactic nuclei.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the proceedings of EVN/JIVE Symposium No. 4, New Astronomy Reviews (eds. Garrett et al.

Stellar Population gradients in galaxy discs from the CALIFA survey

While studies of gas-phase metallicity gradients in disc galaxies are common, very little has been done in the acquisition of stellar abundance gradients in the same regions. We present here a comparative study of the stellar metallicity and age distributions in a sample of 62 nearly face-on, spiral galaxies with and without bars, using data from the CALIFA survey. We measure the slopes of the gradients and study their relation with other properties of the galaxies. We find that the mean stellar age and metallicity gradients in the disc are shallow and negative. Furthermore, when normalized to the effective radius of the disc, the slope of the stellar population gradients does not correlate with the mass or with the morphological type of the galaxies. Contrary to this, the values of both age and metallicity at $\sim$2.5 scale-lengths correlate with the central velocity dispersion in a similar manner to the central values of the bulges, although bulges show, on average, older ages and higher metallicities than the discs. One of the goals of the present paper is to test the theoretical prediction that non-linear coupling between the bar and the spiral arms is an efficient mechanism for producing radial migrations across significant distances within discs. The process of radial migration should flatten the stellar metallicity gradient with time and, therefore, we would expect flatter stellar metallicity gradients in barred galaxies. However, we do not find any difference in the metallicity or age gradients in galaxies with without bars. We discuss possible scenarios that can lead to this absence of difference.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Morpho-kinematic properties of field S0 bulges in the CALIFA survey

We study a sample of 28 S0 galaxies extracted from the integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) survey CALIFA. We combine an accurate two-dimensional (2D) multi-component photometric decomposition with the IFS kinematic properties of their bulges to understand their formation scenario. Our final sample is representative of S0s with high stellar masses ($M_{star}/M_{sun} > 10^{10}$). They lay mainly on the red sequence and live in relatively isolated environments similar to that of the field and loose groups. We use our 2D photometric decomposition to define the size and photometric properties of the bulges, as well as their location within the galaxies. We perform mock spectroscopic simulations mimicking our observed galaxies to quantify the impact of the underlying disc on our bulge kinematic measurements ($\lambda$ and $v/\sigma$). We compare our bulge corrected kinematic measurements with the results from Schwarzschild dynamical modelling. The good agreement confirms the robustness of our results and allows us to use bulge reprojected values of $\lambda$ and $v/\sigma$. We find that the photometric ($n$ and $B/T$) and kinematic ($v/\sigma$ and $\lambda$) properties of our field S0 bulges are not correlated. We demonstrate that this morpho-kinematic decoupling is intrinsic to the bulges and it is not due to projection effects. We conclude that photometric diagnostics to separate different types of bulges (disc-like vs classical) might not be useful for S0 galaxies. The morpho-kinematics properties of S0 bulges derived in this paper suggest that they are mainly formed by dissipation processes happening at high redshift, but dedicated high-resolution simulations are necessary to better identify their origin.Comment: 31 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Two-dimensional multi-component photometric decomposition of CALIFA galaxies

We present a two-dimensional multi-component photometric decomposition of 404 galaxies from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area Data Release 3 (CALIFA-DR3). They represent all possible galaxies with no clear signs of interaction and not strongly inclined in the final CALIFA data release. Galaxies are modelled in the g, r, and i Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images including, when appropriate, a nuclear point source, bulge, bar, and an exponential or broken disc component. We use a human-supervised approach to determine the optimal number of structures to be included in the fit. The dataset, including the photometric parameters of the CALIFA sample, is released together with statistical errors and a visual analysis of the quality of each fit. The analysis of the photometric components reveals a clear segregation of the structural composition of galaxies with stellar mass. At high masses (log(M⋆/M⊙) > 11), the galaxy population is dominated by galaxies modelled with a single Sérsic or a bulge+disc with a bulge-to-total (B/T) luminosity ratio B/T > 0.2. At intermediate masses (9.5 < log(M⋆/M⊙) < 11), galaxies described with bulge+disc but B/T < 0.2 are preponderant, whereas, at the low mass end (log(M⋆/M⊙)< 9.5), the prevailing population is constituted by galaxies modelled with either pure discs or nuclear point sources+discs (i.e., no discernible bulge). We obtain that 57% of the volume corrected sample of disc galaxies in the CALIFA sample host a bar. This bar fraction shows a significant drop with increasing galaxy mass in the range 9.5 < log(M⋆/M⊙) < 11.5. The analyses of the extended multi-component radial profile result in a volume-corrected distribution of 62%, 28%, and 10% for the so-called Type I (pure exponential), Type II (down-bending), and Type III (up-bending) disc profiles, respectively. These fractions are in discordance with previous findings. We argue that the different methodologies used to detect the breaks are the main cause for these differences.PostprintPeer reviewe

CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: I. Survey presentation

We present here the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, which has been designed to provide a first step in this direction.We summarize the survey goals and design, including sample selection and observational strategy.We also showcase the data taken during the first observing runs (June/July 2010) and outline the reduction pipeline, quality control schemes and general characteristics of the reduced data. This survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopic information of a diameter selected sample of $\sim600$ galaxies in the Local Universe (0.005< z <0.03). CALIFA has been designed to allow the building of two-dimensional maps of the following quantities: (a) stellar populations: ages and metallicities; (b) ionized gas: distribution, excitation mechanism and chemical abundances; and (c) kinematic properties: both from stellar and ionized gas components. CALIFA uses the PPAK Integral Field Unit (IFU), with a hexagonal field-of-view of \sim1.3\sq\arcmin', with a 100% covering factor by adopting a three-pointing dithering scheme. The optical wavelength range is covered from 3700 to 7000 {\AA}, using two overlapping setups (V500 and V1200), with different resolutions: R\sim850 and R\sim1650, respectively. CALIFA is a legacy survey, intended for the community. The reduced data will be released, once the quality has been guaranteed. The analyzed data fulfill the expectations of the original observing proposal, on the basis of a set of quality checks and exploratory analysis. We conclude from this first look at the data that CALIFA will be an important resource for archaeological studies of galaxies in the Local Universe.Comment: 32 pages, 29 figures, Accepted for publishing in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Constraints on cometary surface evolution derived from a statistical analysis of 67P's topography

We present a statistical analysis of the distribution of large-scale topographic features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.We observe that the cumulative cliff height distribution across the surface follows a power law with a slope equal to -1.69 ± 0.02. When this distribution is studied independently for each region, we find a good correlation between the slope of the power law and the orbital erosion rate of the surface. For instance, the Northern hemisphere topography is dominated by structures on the 100 m scale, while the Southern hemisphere topography, illuminated at perihelion, is dominated by 10 m scale terrain features. Our study suggests that the current size of a cliff is controlled not only by material cohesion but also by the dominant erosional process in each region. This observation can be generalized to other comets, where we argue that primitive nuclei are characterized by the presence of large cliffs with a cumulative height-power index equal to or above -1.5, while older, eroded cometary surfaces have a power index equal to or below -2.3. In effect, our model shows that a measure of the topography provides a quantitative assessment of a comet's erosional history, that is, its evolutionary age. © 2017 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society

Are fractured cliffs the source of cometary dust jets? Insights from OSIRIS/Rosetta at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Context. Dust jets (i.e., fuzzy collimated streams of cometary material arising from the nucleus) have been observed in situ on all comets since the Giotto mission flew by comet 1P/Halley in 1986, and yet their formation mechanism remains unknown. Several solutions have been proposed involving either specific properties of the active areas or the local topography to create and focus the gas and dust flows. While the nucleus morphology seems to be responsible for the larger features, high resolution imagery has shown that broad streams are composed of many smaller jets (a few meters wide) that connect directly to the nucleus surface. Aims. We monitored these jets at high resolution and over several months to understand what the physical processes are that drive their formation and how this affects the surface. Methods. Using many images of the same areas with different viewing angles, we performed a 3-dimensional reconstruction of collimated jets and linked them precisely to their sources on the nucleus. Results. We show here observational evidence that the northern hemisphere jets of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko arise from areas with sharp topographic changes and describe the physical processes involved. We propose a model in which active cliffs are the main source of jet-like features and therefore of the regions eroding the fastest on comets. We suggest that this is a common mechanism taking place on all comets